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by JOY FANG - joyfang@sph.com.sg
PARK LIFE: In two years’ time, visitors to Bishan Park will be able to sit by the gently sloping banks of the Kallang River. Bridges, a water playground and a river promenade will be built as well. (GRAPHIC: PUB)
Canal in Bishan to become river
by JOY FANG - joyfang@sph.com.sg
by JOY FANG - joyfang@sph.com.sg
PARK LIFE: In two years’ time, visitors to Bishan Park will be able to sit by the gently sloping banks of the Kallang River. Bridges, a water playground and a river promenade will be built as well. (GRAPHIC: PUB)
Canal in Bishan to become river
by JOY FANG - joyfang@sph.com.sg
COME 2011, the stretch of Kallang River that flows beside Bishan Park through a concrete canal will be transformed into a meandering river, with trees and shrubs on its banks.
Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73
Using a special soil bioengineering technique, the concrete will be ripped up and the banks covered with a mixture of big rocks, broken concrete and soil, where greenery will be planted.
Parkgoers will be able to sit by the shallow banks and dip their toes into the river.
It is the first time here that a canal will be naturalised and integrated into a park. Five bridges will also be built over the completed 3km-long stretch of the river, to allow residents in the area to cross it and reach the park. Currently, they need to skirt around it to get there.
Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73
The National Parks Board’s (NParks) director of parks development, Mr Yeo Meng Tong, said that it was time to redevelop the park as it was more than 20 years old. The canal also needed a revamp,as it was “a concrete drain, which is not accessible to anybody except drainage personnel”, he said.
Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73
Construction will begin after a ground-breaking ceremony officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong tomorrow. Under the $76-million project – a collaboration between national water agency PUB and NParks – a river promenade, a water playground, cafes and a lookout point overlooking the river and the park will be built.
Drainage-improvement works will also be done.
This is the latest project under the PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme, which aims to beautify drains, canals and reservoirs, and bring people closer to them.
From 2007 to 2011, 28 projects will be completed. Of these, four, including Bedok Reservoir and Marina Barrage projects, have already been done.
Work on eight other projects, including those involving the Sungei Kallang/Whampoa river and Pandan Reservoir, is ongoing.
Another eight, involving Rochor Canal, Geylang River and Siglap Canal among other waterways, will start next year.
More than 100 other locations have been identified for improvement works in the next 10 to 15 years under the programme.
Bishan resident and undergraduate Ryan How, 24, said that he does not run much in Bishan Park, as he finds it boring and the canal, ugly. “With the new changes, I’ll go there more often to run becauseit’ll have more pleasant scenery,” he said.
WATERWAYS BY 2010
- Sengkang man-made floating island: To be reached via two bridges.
- Rower’s Bay at Lower Seletar Reservoir: To offer water sports, a water stage and a viewing deck.
- Jurong Lake: To have a geyser, water playground and boardwalks.
- Pandan Reservoir: To have a fishing platform and offer boating activities.
- Lorong Halus Wetland: To become a wildlife habitat.
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